Norway is this a bad idea!

Norway is this a bad idea!

By
Simon Carter

THINK Norwegian football and what springs to mind?

Bjørge Lillelien’s famous ‘Lady Diana, Lord Beaverbrook, Winston Churchill etc etc etc ... your boys took one hell of a beating’ commentary after his country’s 2-1 World Cup qualifying win against England in 1981 is the first one I thought of.

Norway’s contribution to world football has not been huge, unsurprisingly really as the population there is under five million.

Could that be about to change, though?

Could the Norwegians be about to implement an idea that could catch on around the globe?

Listen to this idea ...

The Norwegian FA are currently considering a proposal which would allow youth teams to bring on an extra player if they are losing by four goals.

If introduced, under-12 teams – playing 11 a side football - would have the chance to bring a 12th player on to the pitch to give the losing side a chance of getting back into the match.

The rule would then likely see the extra player removed from the game if the deficit is reduced.

The so-called ''four-goal rule'' is being tried out in the Telemark region with a view to introducing it nationally if it is successful.

The proposal, as you would imagine, has come in for some criticism, with suggestions the Norwegian FA are trying to ensure there are no winners or losers in a children's football match.

However, NFF spokesman Alf N Hansen said: ''The only thing we're trying to do is even up matches.

“We want to avoid 15-0 games.

''By evening up matches the players can experience both skill and rivalry.

''With this proposal, there are several elements which promote the development of skills.

''We want to offer an alternative system in which players can face opponents on as level a footing as possible.''

The proposal has been welcomed by former Norway defender Henning Berg, who was recently appointed Blackburn Rovers’ manager.

He said: ''It's a good rule which will lead to more even matches.

''It's not a lot of fun losing 17-0 and it's not a lot of fun winning 17-0 either.''

He is right when he says that – well, 50 per cent right anyway.

It certainly is no fun losing 17-0, that much is obvious.

But when my son’s team recently beat Andover New Street 21-0 in a Testway Youth League under-11 match, Ben and his mates didn’t look that disappointed.

They couldn’t stop smiling, as almost every player had scored and the keeper had kept a clean sheet.

They’d never played in a game where their side had scored that many goals.

Anyway, let’s analyse Hansen’s statement.

What he says does make some sense.

Take Andover New Street, who have now conceded over 100 goals in seven games this season.

That cannot be much fun for them.

Had they been allowed to bring on an extra player at 4-0 down, I’m not saying the numerical advantage would have helped them win games but I can see the logic.

It gives one more player the chance to be involved in a game of football, after all.

And 12 v 11 - or 10 v 9 in the Testway as our under-11 league is 9 x 9 compared to the SouthamptonTyro’s 11 v 11 - would hardly create major problems, would it?

Had such a ruling been in place last weekend, it wouldn’t have made a jot of difference to my son’s Fordingbridge Town under-11 team’s game at home to South Wonston Swifts.

Swifts would not have been able to bring on an extra player if we had motored into a 4-0 lead.

That was because they didn’t have a tenth player on the day.

They didn’t even have enough to fulfil the fixture.

League rules state that seven players will be enough to ensure a competitive game of under-11 9 x 9 football takes place.

Wonston, sadly, only managed six.

It goes without saying that it was a crushing disappointment to players, officials and parents alike.

Though we lent Wonston some of our players, in order to play an hour-long friendly game, it wasn’t the same.

It couldn’t be the same.

Yes, it was competitive – kids just want to play football after all – but the sense of anti-climax was palpable.

It was interesting to see, however, that there was no holding back when it came to the Fordingbridge ‘guest’ players tackling their mates on the opposition side.

It would be nice if they all showed the same aggression when playing for the same side every week!

Us parents said the same last season – at times the lads tackled each other in training with the ferocity of Roy Keane or Stuart Pearce in their prime, but on matchdays the tackling would be far more lacklustre.

There is no logic to that.

In closing, I would just like to highlight an error in the Testway Youth League rules and regulations booklet.

In looking up the rule about how many players are needed for a competitive game last Saturday morning, I noticed the line which states ‘Upper Clatford’s players cannot be interfering with play if they are blatantly offside but score a goal when they are losing’ was strangely absent from the booklet.

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